Top Tips: How to Become a Video Game Tester

With the gaming industry expected to expand to a market value of $268.1 billion by 2025 and the list of career opportunities increasing by the day, video game testing is a profession growing rapidly in popularity and demand.

As a tester, or Quality Assurance Technician in industry terms, you are an essential part of the development and release of a video game, tasked with the responsibility of identifying and reporting bugs before the title is launched. You also get to sample the latest games pre-release, ensuring quality and consistency across a wide range of platforms including PlayStation, Xbox, Android and iOS. Perhaps most importantly, you become part of a highly talented, passionate community in a friendly and diverse working environment.

With testing positions in such high demand across the gaming community, we've compiled some advice from our global network of QA testers here at Keywords.

• Play to your strengths – Game testing is so much more than just playing games and finding bugs. If you are a good writer, express yourself. If you are a creative thinker, think outside the box. If you are a strong communicator, motivate and inspire people to be at their best every single day.
• Work hard and have fun – At the end of the day, you are what’s most important. Make sure to find ways to ensure you are happy with what you are doing and how you are doing it. Make sure to make equal effort to disconnect from work once the day is done, as this feeds naturally into being productive at work.
• Be kind - Help those around you, support those in need and treat everyone with respect and kindness.

• Be yourself - Don't try to "fake" your way into a leadership role, as you should feel yourself growing into it naturally through time. You'll know when the time is right.
• Prepare for challenges - It won't always be easy, be prepared for curve balls and be especially ready to take ownership on bigger calls. Part of being a leader is to take ownership of your mistakes, this is true for all levels of management.
• Respect others - You never know what your fellow peers are going through, or what knowledge they could contribute to the growth of a project. In being mindful, you not only open doors for yourself, you also empower others to reach their goals as well.

• Teamwork - Video game testing can seem a very technical profession on the surface but interpersonal skills are equally as important to help create a positive atmosphere amongst your team
• Balance your perspective - It is important to see the game not only from a player's point of view but also from developer and client perspectives.
• Stay up to date - In my experience, knowledge of different game genres, franchises and trends helps with making you a better, more rounded tester.

Discover more about FQA Career Opportunities at Keywords Studios.